Property report: Forestry and carbon farming

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Jamie Mackay from The Country recently had his monthly real estate update from PGG Wrightson.

General Manager Peter Newbold was unavailable but Peter Wylie from the Waikato filled his boots ably.

Mackay wondered whether the wheels had fallen off carbon farming.

He asked if there was the same level of forestry conversion for sheep and beef properties as there was six or twelve months ago.

Wylie reckoned there was still productive forestry enquiry and sales.

He said usually the flatter, easier land was passed on to locals in land swaps for steeper land suitable for forestry.

Forestry and carbon farming have been underpinning the price of sheep and beef properties.

Mackay asked if it followed that the prices paid for sheep and beef farms were also falling.

Wylie confirmed this hasn’t happened yet but it was early days.

Mackay turned to dairy and asked if anyone was up for buying a dairy farm these days.

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Wylie said there hadn’t been fantastic enthusiasm for dairy - he estimated they were about a third behind.

The properties that were selling were very well located but second and third-tier farms had been hard to move, he said.

Mackay commented on land use changes in the Waikato, with kiwifruit edging its way into the region.

Wylie agreed, saying it was particularly noticeable around Te Awamutu and Cambridge.